Wednesday, August 12, 2009

Set Up A Language Course

A language course can help you become bilingual and advance your career.


There are nearly 7,000 languages spoken in the world. People who learn additional languages boost their career opportunities, increase their salaries and stand out from the competition in the global marketplace. Bilingual call center employees can earn 10 to 15 percent more than their co-workers and bilingual administrative assistants can negotiate about 9 percent more in earnings than non-bilingual workers. Setting up a language course to provide these benefits can be a valuable and rewarding task.


Instructions


1. Decide what language to teach in the course and at what level you will teach -- beginning, intermediate or advanced. A beginning language course should teach basic skills such as the language alphabet, word pronunciation and learning simple phrases. The intermediate level should progress to teaching more complex phrases and proceed toward conversational speaking. The advanced level incorporates writing, reading and speaking the language more fluently.








2. Design a curriculum for the language course. A curriculum is a set of comprehensive lessons for the course that helps you manage class activities and learning objectives. Include a goal for the course and write an outline that includes instructional methods that support your goal. The outline should include classroom activities, lesson plans, teaching strategies, student evaluations, a course timeframe and learning materials to deliver to students. A lesson plan is a guide to teach a single class session to help instructors stay focused and organized.








3. Hire a teacher who specializes in teaching the specified language for your course if you aren't teaching the course yourself. The instructor should be fluent in the language and preferably have a degree in that language. The teacher should have experience instructing students at your course's age and educational level. Look for a teacher who has patience and enjoys interacting with people. Advertise your job posting for a teacher on Internet job boards. Schedule interviews and meet with candidates to determine the best fit for your language course.


4. Gather learning materials for your language course. Materials such as DVDs, audio books, textbooks and worksheets can be used in your language course to supplement the lesson plan and enhance students' learning experience. Advise your language course teacher to present learning materials to students as the class progresses and to help students practice writing, reading and listening to the new language.

Tags: language course, your language, your language course, learning materials, language course